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The cybercrime wing of the Chennai police has arrested two young men from Mysuru and Bengaluru in connection with a sophisticated Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) cyber fraud case in which ₹80 lakh was siphoned off by impersonating the chief executive officer of a private company on WhatsApp, officials said on Monday.
According to the police, the fraud came to light after a complaint was lodged by 59-year-old Pranadarthiharan, a resident of Nungambakkam, who works as a senior manager in a private cement manufacturing company based in Chennai. The complainant told investigators that he had received a WhatsApp message from an unknown mobile number, with the sender introducing himself as the company’s CEO, Krishnamoorthy Suresh.
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Believing the message to be genuine, the complainant was instructed to urgently transfer ₹80 lakh to a bank account held in the name of SIRI Enterprises. Trusting the apparent authenticity of the request and without carrying out independent verification, he transferred the entire amount to the specified account.
The fraud came to light shortly thereafter when the complainant contacted the actual CEO to confirm the transaction. He was informed that no such request had been made and that the message was fraudulent. Realising that he had been duped, the complainant approached the office of the Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai, on October 22, following which a case was registered and an investigation was launched by the Central Crime Branch, Cyber Crime Police.
During the probe, investigators tracked the movement of the defrauded funds across multiple bank accounts. Police found that ₹5,48,301 from the cheated amount had been credited into a State Bank of India account belonging to Mohammed Arbaz, a resident of Mysuru, Karnataka. Of this, ₹5.30 lakh was subsequently withdrawn using cheques.
Similarly, another tranche of ₹10 lakh was credited into a Bank of Baroda account held by Hasheer Akthar, also from Mysuru. Investigators said the entire amount was later withdrawn through cheques, indicating a deliberate attempt to quickly convert digital transfers into cash and obscure the money trail.
Based on these findings, special cybercrime teams were dispatched to Mysuru and Bengaluru, where the accused were traced and arrested. The arrested persons have been identified as Mohammed Arbaz (21) and Hasheer Akthar (21), both residents of Mysuru.
Police officials said further investigation revealed that Mohammed Arbaz had been involved in at least three other cyber fraud cases reported in Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In these cases, he allegedly allowed proceeds of online frauds to be credited into his bank account, withdrew the money through cheques and handed over the cash to other cybercriminals in return for a commission.
Hasheer Akthar, police said, was found to have knowingly facilitated cyber fraud by allowing both his savings and current accounts to be used for receiving illicit funds. Investigators also alleged that he played a role in creating fake firms, opening mule bank accounts and transferring funds for a commission, thereby actively aiding and abetting organised cybercrime networks.
Officials said the modus operandi followed in the case was consistent with Man-in-the-Middle frauds, where attackers impersonate senior executives or trusted authorities to trick employees into transferring large sums of money to controlled accounts. The use of mule accounts, rapid withdrawals and inter-state operations, police said, made detection more challenging.
The accused have been produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody. Police said efforts are under way to identify other members of the fraud network and to recover the remaining defrauded amount.
Cybercrime officials have once again urged companies and employees to strictly follow verification protocols, especially for high-value financial transactions, and to treat urgent payment requests received via messaging platforms with caution, noting a steady rise in CEO impersonation frauds across the country.
About the author – Rehan Khan is a law student and legal journalist with a keen interest in cybercrime, digital fraud, and emerging technology laws. He writes on the intersection of law, cybersecurity, and online safety, focusing on developments that impact individuals and institutions in India.
